Senator Fabian Manning, on behalf of the Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of National Revenue, Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, announces close to $15 million for six different research and development projects in Newfoundland and Labrador at an event at the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Close to $15 million in funding from the Atlantic Innovation Fund was announced today by Senator Fabian Manning on behalf of the Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of National Revenue, Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway.

Representatives of the six successful applicants were present for the announcement today.

Senator Fabian Manning tours the pilot processing plant at the Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development (C-ASD) at the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, following an announcement of close to $15 million for six research and development projects in Newfoundland and Labrador through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF). Mr. Robert Verge, managing director of the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation (CCFI), explains how CCFI will use the facility to carry out R&D designed to improve efficiencies and product quality in crab meat processing. CCFI will receive approximately $2.3 million from the AIF.

ACOA Minister Keith Ashfield, announced on March 14, 2011 that almost $16 million will be invested into seven new research projects in New Brunswick through the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF). Minister Ashfield said investments in innovation and R&D will help fuel Canada’s future economic growth. The minister added that it’s about good science, smart business and a great investment in the future of Atlantic Canada.

Bill Robertson, Executive Director and CEO of HMSC, spoke on behalf of all the 2011 AIF recipients in New Brunswick. The Huntsman Marine Science Centre will receive approximately$3 million from the Atlantic Innovation Fund over a five-year period to develop an elite Atlantic salmon broodstock breeding program to produce salmon that have better growth rates, increased fillet yield, decrease in deformities, and are more resistant to sea lice and bacterial kidney disease (BKD). The proposed project, with total estimated costs of $7.8 million, will be co-located in facilities in New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

ACOA Minister Keith Ashfield and Dr. Tom Whidden, Director of Research at Atlantic Hydrogen Inc. (AHI), looking at technologies developed by the Fredericton based company. AHI is a past Atlantic Innovation Fund recipient. The company received $2 million from ACOA in 2010 and $2.2 million in 2002.

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, on behalf of Keith Ashfield, Minister of National Revenue, Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, meets with representatives from Capital Health at Sunday’s Atlantic Innovation Foundation (AIF) announcement in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Capital Health will receive approximately $1.5 million from the AIF over a five-year period to develop a prototype medical device that will image retinal tissue in an animal model. In total, over $15 million will be invested through AIF in seven different projects in Nova Scotia’s life sciences, renewable energy, and agriculture and forestry sectors.

In the photo from left to right: Dr. William Baldridge, Dr. Balwantray Chauhan, Minister MacKay, Dr. Ray Leblanc and Julia Taylor.